The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. DNS translates human-friendly computer hostnames to the numerical IP addresses needed for the purpose of locating computer services and devices worldwide. DNS thus provides a worldwide, distributed keyword-based redirection service, enabling functionality of the Internet.
Users are increasingly accessing domains through apps or web browsers installed on their mobile device. A web service may be delivered to users through different mechanisms such as apps and web pages. Some web services (e.g., email) can be accessed via dedicated mobile apps or by accessing website domain names dedicated to the web services.
In some cases, organizations may need to offer promotional or custom versions of apps to select customers. For example, a company offering an email service, may need to provide a promotional app that allows users of a certain data carrier or data network to access the email service without incurring a data usage cost associated with use of the service over the data network. However, regardless of whether a custom app or a web browser is used to access a web service, a DNS request for the web service resolves to the same IP address that provides the service. Thus, a user may need to navigate to a web service domain name that is different from a well-known domain name to avail of custom or promotional web services from a different IP address associated with the different domain name. This inconveniences the user and may also negatively impact the web service provider.
As the foregoing illustrates, a new approach for managing DNS requests originating from mobile devices may be desirable.